Former York City church deacon admits to sexual contact with girls
A former deacon of a York City church remains in York County Prison on $100,000 bail, accused of sexually assaulting two young members of the congregation.
Carlos Enrique Ramirez-Nova, 24, admitted having sex with one of the girls, and admitted to having improper sexual contact with the other, according to charging documents filed by city Detective First Class Dana Ward.
At some point prior to charges being filed, Ramirez-Nova moved to Tampa, Fla., according to court records.
Charging documents do not name the church where he was a deacon.
Neither Ward nor deputy prosecutor Lauren Carella would provide the church's name. Carella said she is trying to protect the integrity of the case.
Ramirez-Nova appeared
before District Judge Barbara Nixon Wednesday afternoon, where he waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the cases. He's now scheduled for formal court arraignment on Jan. 7.
Bail issue: Defense attorney Michael Rutt asked Nixon to lower his client's bail, which is set at $50,000 for each case.
Ramirez-Nova voluntarily returned to York County from Florida and surrendered to police, Rutt argued, so he's not a flight risk.
But Carella disagreed.
She told Nixon that the defendant is originally from the Dominican Republic, that some of the charges against him are first-degree felonies, and the prosecution "believes the defendant was preying on the religious community he was involved with."
Intimidation?
Also, the prosecutor said, some of Ramirez-Nova's family members have made contact with the alleged victims and their families in an effort to get them to drop the charges.
"We believe there has been some intimidation in that regard," Carella told the district judge.
Through a Spanish-language translator, Ramirez-Nova weighed in on the discussion.
"There was no order preventing (contact)," the defendant said.
Judge Nixon said although a no-contact provision hadn't been
made a condition of the defendant's original bail, it was still "totally inappropriate" for his family to contact the alleged victims, Nixon said.
She refused to lower Ramirez-Nova's bail and added a no-contact provision.
The allegations: Ramirez-Nova had "numerous" sexual encounters with a 14-year-old girl in June, documents state. The incidents happened at his former apartment in the 100 block of South Pershing Avenue, at the girl's home and in his car in various locations around York City, according to documents.
Shortly after attending the girl's 14th birthday party, Ramirez-Nova began secretly flirting with her, which led to sex, documents state.
Ramirez-Nova is also accused of having sexual contact
with a 13-year-old girl in the congregation on May 22, inside his minivan at the corner of West Princess and South Beaver streets, documents state.
Sex in van: He took a number of church members to Philadelphia that day to visit a sick parishioner, police said. After returning to York, he dropped off the church members at their homes until the only person left in the minivan was the 13-year-old girl, documents state.
That's when he stopped his minivan and sexually assaulted her, police said.
Ramirez-Nova is charged with two counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and indecent assault, one for each girl. He's also charged with one count of aggravated
indecent assault, for the 14-year-old.
-- Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com, 505-5429 or twitter.com/ydcrimetime.Read more at www.ydr.com
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